PFSP will help to connect physicians who call the 1-877-767-4637 Assistance Line to a family physician who has agreed to participate in the P4P program.
More than ever, physicians need the care and support of a family doctor, but many are without primary care for themselves or their family members. All physicians can benefit from having a personal family physician to maintain optimal health and thus enable them to better care for their patients.
Sign up now!
The P4P service is used by physicians of all career stages, and its success relies on family physicians signing up to be providers in this network.
If you are a family physician willing to be a provider, please complete our sign-up form.
Frequently Asked Questions
Download the FAQs (PDF)Each year, through the 1-877-767-4637 Assistance Line, the PFSP receives over 300 requests from physician callers and their immediate family members to help make a connection to family physicians.
Many of those calling the line are medical students or residents who are new to Alberta, as well as physicians whose previous family physician has retired or moved.
The PFSP facilitates the connection between an individual in need of a family physician and one of the family physicians who has signed up to be a provider through the P4P service.
The PFSP considers several factors when making this connection including location and gender requests and works to distribute referrals equitably amongst the P4P providers.
While the PFSP does its best to match the needs of an individual, there are no guarantees provided. Requests for family physicians with special areas of interest or those that serve specific client populations are not always possible to match.
For the P4P provider
The PFSP attempts to make connections equitably so as not to overwhelm any one provider. In the larger urban centers of Calgary and Edmonton, on average you can expect to receive one-to-three requests per month. If you are a physician in a rural setting the referrals are typically less frequent.
P4P providers maintain autonomy in upholding their practice guidelines when considering new patients. The PFSP informs individuals that they are being provided the name of a physician who is willing to take physician colleagues as patients, but that this does not impact or influence priority access or timeliness to appointments nor any other special treatment.
Yes, all decisions related to accepting a new patient, including acceptance of family members as patients, is left to the discretion of the provider. Additionally, you can include specific criteria you have during the sign-up process which will help us match you to callers most appropriately.
You can manage your participation as a P4P provider by accessing the P4P link on your personal AMA dashboard and change your status from “Active” to “On Hold”. The PFSP will not connect clients to you until you change your status back to “Active”. For more information, please email: pfsp@albertadoctors.org
You can update your information by accessing the P4P link on your personal AMA dashboard. For more information, please email pfsp@albertadoctors.org
At this time, the PFSP offers the following resources:
If any of the providers on the P4P list have a helpful resource or a suggestion about how the PFSP could further support P4P providers, please email pfsp@albertadoctors.org.
Yes. The PFSP believes that all physicians benefit from having a family physician and a Medical Home to maintain optimal health and thus enable them to better care for their patients. Once connected to a family physician, further referrals to other specialists can be made and coordinated through the family physician.
For those seeking a family physician
Yes. The PFSP will ask you to contact the clinic yourself to make an appointment and to notify the clinic that you have been connected with this physician by the PFSP, this is essential information for the front office staff. It is important to note that a connection made by the PFSP does not imply expedited access to the clinic or that you can bypass the clinic’s processes.
While the PFSP does its best to match the needs of an individual, there are no guarantees provided. Requests for family physicians with special areas of interest or those that serve specific client populations are not always possible to match.
Please contact the 1-877-767-4637 Assistance Line and request a new family physician connection.
No. The PFSP does not share this information. Connections to family physicians must be made through the 1-877-767-4637 Assistance Line.